Derek McInnes opens up on Hearts return as Rangers boss reveals transfer talks days before exit
Former boss is back in Gorgie with new club
Derek McInnes is braced for a hostile reception upon his return to Hearts on Wednesday night as Rangers manager as he revealed he still harbours feelings of hurt and injustice over how last season panned out.
McInnes moved to Rangers from Hearts in June, just weeks after the Jambos were pipped by Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title on the final day of the campaign. He will go back to Tynecastle for the first time in five months as second-placed Rangers look to increase the gap between them and Hearts, who are third, to eight points.
McInnes explained that he “loved” his time at Hearts but admitted that tensions may run high as he makes his return to Gorgie to face successor Wouter Vrancken and his team - especially with captain Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin having made the same switch.
“The hope would be that you get on the pitch and clap the fans and there’s an acknowledgment both ways, but that’s not going to happen,” said McInnes. “I totally understand that.
“I loved my time at Hearts. I need to say that. It was only a short time, but I thought my Hearts team were a breath of fresh air for Scottish football last season. I really enjoyed what we managed to achieve. It showed what could be done, despite not having the huge financial muscle of Rangers and Celtic, and I was proud of what we did there. Taking a team who finished in the bottom six and getting to 80 points, we just felt a real injustice at the end of it all.
“I understand that it’s not going to be great for me tomorrow, but I get it. At Hearts, we were hurting. Last season was almost like we were mourning. That might seem a bit exaggerated, but that’s how it felt.
“We were all clinging to each other during the first part of the close season. It was a time when we felt we should all be sticking together. I felt the guilt about the decision over whether I stayed or left.
“I had felt something similar a couple of weeks earlier with Lawrence. I was golfing with Graeme Jones (sporting director) and chewing the fat about the season, the plans for the next season and having a post-mortem of everything when we got the call that Lawrence wanted to go to Rangers.
“I remember how I felt then. I felt a bit let down and flat about the whole thing. For me to make a similar move a couple of weeks later, I understood that. I totally get it if the treatment I receive tomorrow is what it is.
“You could say that maybe I deserve it, but nothing will change how I feel about my time at Hearts. I think there was a real injustice and a grievance towards the end of the season, we felt we should have won the title. I wanted to be a manager who won a title outside the Old Firm. But for a few contentious decisions going against us, I think we would have won it.”
McInnes revealed that he played a big part in shaping the current squad that is now playing under Vrancken.
“I think only the goalkeeper [Beau Reus] is a player I hadn’t signed or worked with,” explained McInnes. “Although I hadn’t worked directly with a lot of the new signings, they were players I had numerous Zoom calls and conversations with about bringing in. Even at the end of last season, during the first week of my holiday, I was speaking to Tom Renaud, Malachi [Fagan-Walcott], MJ Kamara and [Amadou] Ba-Sy. The work means you feel as though you have a wee in with those guys.
“Obviously, it’s now somebody else’s job at Hearts to bring those boys on. They’ve got their job to get on with, but they’ve shown enough encouragement this season to suggest they will be absolutely title contenders again. There’s no doubt about that in my eyes. They are such a well-run club. They’ve got a brilliant chairman in Callum [Paterson] and they are really well run and they have the influence of Jamestown, so I only expect them to get better.
“My concern is Rangers and for us to improve. It is up to us to improve enough to be successful and win trophies. There are still a lot of familiar faces there who I’ve worked with, but it’s about the game. It’s not going to be about anything else.”